Popular baby names in Illinois, 1978

The most popular baby names in Illinois in 1978 were Jennifer for girls (2,814 babies) and Michael for boys (3,630). Social Security records list 150,292 babies born in Illinois in 1978 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Illinois in 1978

Names given at least 15 times in Illinois that year and at least twice as common as in the US as a whole.

Girls

Latrice: 49 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Maricela: 60 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Qiana: 49 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Gabriela: 63 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Carolina: 44 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Maribel: 52 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Aja: 49 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Guadalupe: 51 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Aisha: 77 babies, 2× the national rate

Boys

Antoine: 79 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Darius: 40 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Nick: 42 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Marlon: 54 babies, 2.1× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Illinois, 1978

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Jennifer	2,814	–	1
2	Melissa	1,364	↑1	2
3	Amy	1,173	↓1	4
4	Nicole	1,152	↑3	10
5	Heather	1,114	–	5
6	Sarah	1,107	↑4	8
7	Jessica	1,078	↑1	3
8	Michelle	1,058	↓4	9
9	Elizabeth	1,018	↑2	14
10	Kelly	1,013	↓4	12
11	Amanda	1,008	↑3	6
12	Angela	1,005	↓3	7
13	Lisa	927	–	11
14	Kimberly	853	↓2	13
15	Stephanie	769	↑4	16
16	Christina	757	↑1	15
17	Rebecca	675	↓1	17
18	Laura	654	–	19
19	Julie	619	↑1	26
20	Jamie	600	↓5	20
21	Erin	574	–	21
22	Andrea	535	↑6	23
23	Sara	517	↑1	28
24	Mary	490	↓2	24
25	Christine	486	↑1	29
26	Maria	463	↑3	36
27	Rachel	457	–	25
28	Shannon	447	↓3	22
29	Tiffany	443	↑2	32
30	Katherine	434	↑2	38
31	Crystal	418	↑9	18
32	Carrie	415	↓9	35
33	Jill	406	–	46
34	Erica	397	↑1	34
35	Megan	387	↓1	41
36	Danielle	378	↑2	31
37	April	375	↑8	27
38	Tracy	367	↓1	47
39	Karen	358	↓3	39
40	Dawn	355	↓10	52
41	Emily	343	–	33
42	Amber	320	new	30
43	Kathleen	309	↑5	79
44	Patricia	299	↓5	48
45	Stacy	297	↓1	44
46	Tina	297	↑4	45
47	Monica	287	↑2	42
48	Susan	282	↓6	49
49	Tara	278	↓3	40
50	Cynthia	277	↓3	50

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Michael	3,630	–	1
2	Jason	2,409	–	2
3	Christopher	2,027	↑3	3
4	David	1,985	↓1	4
5	Matthew	1,891	↑2	6
6	James	1,874	↓2	5
7	Robert	1,722	↑1	8
8	Brian	1,715	↓3	9
9	John	1,633	–	7
10	Daniel	1,463	–	11
11	Joseph	1,410	–	10
12	Joshua	1,288	↑3	12
13	Timothy	1,200	↑5	17
14	Eric	1,190	↓2	16
15	Ryan	1,165	↓2	14
16	Kevin	1,142	↓2	15
17	William	1,069	↓1	13
18	Anthony	1,028	↓1	20
19	Jeffrey	1,001	↑1	19
20	Nicholas	976	↑24	25
21	Thomas	908	↑2	23
22	Andrew	887	–	22
23	Jeremy	884	↓4	18
24	Steven	872	↓3	24
25	Mark	828	↓1	26
26	Scott	824	↓1	30
27	Richard	803	↓1	21
28	Adam	774	↑2	29
29	Charles	676	↓2	27
30	Aaron	610	↑1	32
31	Paul	586	↓2	33
32	Justin	572	–	28
33	Patrick	526	↑5	42
34	Benjamin	508	↓1	34
35	Gregory	505	↓1	38
36	Jose	486	↑3	44
37	Jonathan	478	↓2	31
38	Chad	477	↓10	35
39	Kenneth	473	↓3	41
40	Nathan	450	↑1	36
41	Bradley	420	↓1	53
42	Peter	403	↑4	54
43	Stephen	399	↑4	37
44	Brandon	387	↑6	40
45	Edward	374	↓2	47
46	Sean	374	↓4	45
47	Todd	368	↓2	56
48	Shawn	359	↓11	39
49	Donald	350	new	48
50	Keith	345	↓2	49

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